Sink mounting



July 3, 1956 c. PHELPS 2,752,609

SINK MOUNTING Filed April 9, 1954 /NVEIVTOQ. 1705752 6. Maps 85 MSQTrGENEY Haze/s. mac, l/asree a: .E42E/5 United States Patent SINKFoster C. Phelps, North Hollywood, Calif.

Application April 9, 1954, Serial No. 422,080

9 Claims. (Cl. 4-187) The present invention relates in general to meansfor mounting items such as sinks in openings in counters or othersupporting structures, the primary object of the invention being toprovide an improved mounting means for such items. Since the inventionmay be used for mounting items other than sinks, such as lavatories,electric ranges, etc., it will be understood that the term sink is usedbroadly herein to cover such other items.

The usual practice in sink installations in residential buildings inparticular is to provide a sink opening in a suitable supportingstructure, which is customarily a cabinet structure topped by adrainboard, wood ordinarily being used for the drainboard and thecabinet structure. For water-proofing purposes, the drainboard iscustomarily provided with a suitable covering, such as linoleum,plastic, sheet metal, tile, or the like.

In recent years, it has become the practice to mount a sink in a sinkopening in such a supporting structure by a suitable clamping means, theclamping means being engageable with the supporting structure adjacentthe sink opening and either being carried by the sink itself, or being aseparate device engageable with the sink. While such means of installinga sink works very well where the drainboard is covered with a materialsuch as linoleum, plastic, or sheet metal, it has not been possibleheretofore to mount a sink in this manner with a tile covering on thedrainboard, one reason being that the clamping means, which is designedto clamp onto the covering material as well as the drainboard, tends tocrack the tiling unless the cement used to secure the tiling is allowedto dry thoroughly for several days. A more important reason is that, inlaying tile in the contional manner, it is impossible to provide a sinkopening having dimensions sufliciently accurate to permit the use ofsuch a clamping means, which requires an accurately dimensioned opening.In view of this, the use of such clamping means for mounting sinks hasheretofore been restricted to installations having such drainboardcoverings as linoleum, plastic, or sheet metal, and an important objectof the present invention is to provide a sink mounting means whichpermits the utilization of such a clamping means with a tileddrainboard.

More particularly, an important object of the invention is to rim thesink opening with a rigid metallic frame of structural cross sectionwhich is secured to the sink supporting structure to provide anaccurately dimensioned opening, the clamping means being engageablesolely with such frame and not engaging the covering material on thedrainboard.

Another object is to provide such a frame formed to fit a particularsink opening.

Still another object is to provide a member of structural cross sectionhaving a flange which is notched at intervals proportional to thelengths of the sink edges so that the member may readily be bent intothe shape necessary to fit the sink opening.

The foregoing objects, advantages and features of the present invention,together with other objects, advantages 2,752,609 Patented July 3, 1956and features thereof which will become apparent, may be attained withthe exemplary embodiments of the inven: tion illustrated in theaccompanying drawing and described in detail hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sink installation embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken alongthe arrowed line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on a further enlarged scale takenalong the arrowed line 3?? of i Fig. 4 is an isometric view of analternative embodiment of the invention prior to forming; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary isometric view showing a portion of theembodiment of Fig. 4 after forming.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 10 designates generally asupporting structure for a rectangular sink 11, the supporting structure10 adjoining a wall 12 and including a cabinet structure 13 surmountedby a drainboard 14, Fig. 3, in the particular construction illustrated.

The supporting structure 10 provides an opening 16 for the sink 11, thesink opening 16 being rimmed by a rigid frame 18 of structural crosssection, the frame 18 preferably being metallic and continuous. In theparticular construction illustrated, the frame 18 is an angle sectionhaving a vertical flange 20 and a horizontal flange 22 extendingoutwardly relative to the sink opening 16. The frame 18 is secured tothe supporting structure 10, in any suitable manner, as by nails 24extending throughthe horizontal flange 22 and driven into variouscomponents of the supporting structure 18 as required. In the particularconstruction illustrated, the frame 18 is shown as having been installedbefore completion of the assembly of the supporting structure 10,various components of the supporting structure 10, such as thedrainboard 14, Fig. 3, having been installed on top of the horizontalflange 22. As a matter of convenience, the frame 18 may be of aluminum,in which case the nails 24 may be driven through the horizontal flange22 without any necessity for drilling holes therefor. However, if ametal such as steel is used, holes for the nails, or other fasteningelements, may be drilled therethrough.

With the particular construction illustrated after the frame 18 has beenassembled with the various elements of the supporting structure 10 inthe manner discussed, the drainboard 14 is covered with tiles 26 in theusual manner, the tiles 26 adjacent the ends of the sink opening 16being shown as abutting the vertical flange 20 of the frame 18. Ifdesired, cement, not shown, may be introduced between the tiles 26 andthe vertical flange 20. Trim tiles 28 are cemented in place along thefront edge of the sink opening 16 in the usual manner, any space betweenthe trim tiles 28 and the vertical flange 20 of the frame 18 beingfilled in with cement to the level of the top of the flange, asindicated at 30. The wall 12 is provided with a tile splash 32, againany space between the tile splash 32 and the vertical flange 28 of theframe 18 being filled with cement to the level of the upper edge of thevertical flange 20, as indicated at 34. The net re,- sult is that thevertical flange 20 of the frame 18 is rimmed with tile and/or cement to,or substantially to, the level of the upper edge of the vertical flange2!).

While a particular sequence ,of steps has been discussed heretofore forinstalling the frame 18 and the tiling, it will be understood that theinvention is not limited there to, it being possible to install theframe 18 in various other ways and at various other times in theassembly sequence. The net result desired is an accurately dimensionedsink opening rimmed by the frame 18, and it will be apparent that thismay be accomplished in ways other than hereinbefore discussed.

Considering now the manner in which the sink 11 is mounted on the frame18, an illustrative clamping means 36 is provided for securing the sink11 to the frame 18 preferably without placing any load on the tilingaround the sink opening 16, the clamping means 36 preferably engagingonly the frame 18 and the sink 11, especially where it is desired toinstall the sink immediately after tiling. The clamping means 36, which,per se, forms no part of the present invention since it is conventional,is shown as including a T-shaped ring 38 having flanges 40 and 42 whichrespecdvely overlie and engage the upper end of the frame 18, i. e., theupper edge of the frame flange 20, and the upper surface of a peripheralflange 44 on the sink 11. The T-shaped ring 38 is provided with a flange46 which extends downwardly between the sink flange 44 and the frameflange 20 and which is provided with a hook 48 at its lower end. Theclamping means 36 includes clamping elements 50 having hooks 52complementary to and engaging the hook 48 at spaced intervals, theclamping elements 50 having arms 54 which fit under and engage the lowerend of the frame 18, i. e., the lower side of the horizontal frameflange 22. The clamping elements 50 also have arms 56 through which arethreaded screws 58 engaging the lower side of the sink flange 44. Aswill be apparent, when the screws 58 are tightened, the sink 11 isclamped to the vertical flange 20 of the frame 18.

In order to provide a seal along the ends of the sink 11, cement may beplaced between the tiles 26 and the flange 40 of the ring 38, asindicated at 60 in Fig. 3. If the sink 11 is mounted by means of theclamping means 36 before the cement at 30, 34 and 60 is completely set,a water-tight seal relative to the flange 40 of the ring 38 is providedall the way around the sink. Also, any excess cement is displaced upontightening of the clamping means 36 when this procedure is followed,thereby insuring that all of the load represented by the weight of thesink 11 is carried exclusively by the frame 18.

It will be understood that the particular clamping means 36 shown isillustrative only and that the invention may be utilized with otherclamping means, e. g., one carried directly by the sink. In such a case,the sink flange may rest directly on the frame 18, being secured byclamps carried by the sink flange and engaging the lower side of theframe 18.

While the frame 18 may be preformed to accommodate a particular sink andsink opening, the frame may also be provided in strip form, such a framebeing shown in Figs. 4 and of the drawing and being designated by thenumeral 64. The frame 64 is also shown as an angle section, althoughother cross sections may be utilized, the frame 64 having a verticalflange 66 and a horizontal flange 68. The latter is provided withnotches 70 therein at intervals proportional to the lengths of the sidesof the sink 11 so that the frame 64 may be bent readily at the notches70 to provide the necessary corners, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing.By making the frame 64 of a readily bendable material, such as aluminum,the necessary forming can be done readily on the job without any specialtools or equipment, which is an important feature.

Although I have disclosed exemplary embodiments of my invention hereinfor purposes of illustration, it will be understood that variouschanges, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in suchembodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined by the claims which follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination: a tiled supporting structure having tion rimming saidopening and secured to said supportingstructure, said frame having twoends which are spaced apart in the direction of the axis of said openingand which face away from each other; an object in said opening andencompassed by said frame; and means engageable with said ends of saidframe for securing said object to said frame.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said frame is an anglesection having a vertical flange and a horizontal, outwardly directedflange.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said frame is rectangularand wherein said horizontal flange is notched at the corners ofsaidframe.

4. A rigid frame of structural cross section for supporting an object inan opening in a supporting structure, said frame and object beingrectangular and the lengths of the sides of said frame beingproportional to the lengths of the corresponding sides of said object,said structural cross section being an angle section having a verticalflange and an outwardly directed,- horizontal flange, said horizontalflange being notched at the corners of said provided with four notchesat intervals proportional to,

the lengths of the sides of said object.

6. In an apparatus for mounting an object in an opening in a supportingstructure, the combination of: a rigid frame in and rimming the openingand secured to said supporting structure, said frame having two endswhich are spaced apart in the direction of the axis ofthe opening andwhich face away from each other; a second rigid frame within the firstframe mentioned and engaging one of said ends of said first frame, saidobject engaging said second frame; and clamping means connected to saidsecond frame and engaging the other of said ends of said first frame andthe object for securing the object and said second frame to the firstframe.

7. In an apparatus for mounting an object in an opening in a supportingstructure, the combination of: a rigid frame in and rimming the openingand secured to said supporting structure; a second rigid frame withinthe first frame mentioned and engaging said first frame, the objectengaging said second frame; and clamping means connected to said secondframe and engaging the object and said first frame for securing theobject and said second frame to said first frame.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said clamping means ispivotally connected to said second frame.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said second frame andsaid clamping means respectively engage ends of said first frame whichare spaced apart in the direction of the axis of the opening and whichface away from each other, said clamping means comprising a plurality ofclamps, each having means engaging one.

of said ends of said first frame and adjustable means engaging theobject.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS DrainMar. 23, 1954

